I was sick last week, hence the lack of blogging. I’ll be trying to post a few tidbits here and there this week as I have time.
One item I found fascinating in the wake of the Pentagon’s review of the ban on media access for repatriated soldiers – Britain has a more open, public method you can read about here.
Looking for a good time? Try flying a 757 in to Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
From the Ground
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loyKfeV7NFg
From the Cockpit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAxAso8xSo0
The NY Times has a great online summary of the key provisions in the stimulus bill. I recommend perusing it, since there are some changes that you might find useful. The highlights I saw are below:
Incentive for car buyers
Allow those who buy a new vehicle in 2009 — with a price tag of up to $49,500 — to deduct state, local and excise taxes as well as interest on their car loan. The tax break is an above-the-line deduction, which means that it can be taken even by those who do not itemize other deductions on their tax returns. The deduction begins to phase out for single tax filers with adjusted gross income of more than $125,000, or $250,000 for married couples filing jointly.
Increase tax credits for residential energy efficiency improvements
Increase tax credits for purchases to make homes energy efficient, such as new furnaces or insulation, to 30 percent through 2010, for up to $1,500.
Provide coupon to convert to digital televisions
Continue the coupon program to enable households to convert from analog television transmission to digital transmission.
Provide consumers rebates for energy-efficient appliances
Expand tax incentives for residential renewable energy properties
Remove dollar caps on the 30 percent residential credit for solar thermal, geothermal and small wind property.
Equalize mass transit and parking benefits
Equalize tax-free commuter benefits provided by employers for transit and parking at $230 per month for 2009 and index both benefits to inflation. Under current rules, only $120 of the mass transit benefit and $230 of the parking benefit is tax-free.
So, if you’re looking to build a windmill or solar farm in your back yard, use public transit to get to / from work, or buy a car, this is your year.
Question: How many weapons does it take to bring down an adult chimp attacking a woman?
Answer: Apparently three.
CB and I were working some wedding-related topics this weekend when she brought up that the wedding was only four months away. Four months! Bah! Plenty of time.
Then she said 16 weeks (it’s actually 17), and the panic set in.
It’s amazing how quickly time flies.
I’ve only got two words to say to the coterie of Bushies who are off in the media defending their legacy of corruption, incompetence, and fear: shut up!
Overhyping your product in direct to consumer advertisments may result in a primetime “We screwed up” campaign.
Thank you GraphJam for providing a few laughs during lunch today.
A few of my favorites:
Thankfully CB and I are within the 100 mile radius “Date Local” outlines. Too bad, I wanted to be a “locasexual”.
Slate has an article outlining several points for forgetting about private accounts for Social Security once and for all. My main reason for supporting Social Security in its current form – it’s a great form of risk mitigation against negative economic circumstances for individuals, either through entrepenurial risk taking or just lousy stock market returns like today. It guarantees everyone a baseline level of economic security in old age, so if you do better, great, and if you don’t, you at least have something.